My Boy Jack To Skip Preakness, But Will Run Belmont Stakes

What's a guy from West Hartford doing at the Kentucky Derby? Rooting for his horse, My Boy Jack. Through a wild ride and many twists and turns, Michael Gualtieri, president of West Hartford-based ProCourier (and a West Hartford resident) is one of the proud owners of a horse who will be running for the roses on May 5.

My Boy Jack, who came from second to last in a field of 20 horses to finish fifth in the Kentucky Derby Saturday, will skip the Preakness but will run in the Belmont Stakes on June 9.

Mike Gualtieri, son of one of the horse's owners, Michael Gualtieri of West Hartford, said Monday that the 3-year-old dark bay colt will not go to the Preakness on May 19. The horse, co-owned by Don't Tell My Wife Stables (of which Gualtieri is a part of) and Monomoy Stables, will be shipped back to California on Tuesday, where trainer Keith Desormeaux is based.

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My Boy Jack, who went off at 6-1 odds, had 10 starts before walking onto the track at Churchill Downs, the most of any horse in the field. He won two races this year, the $500,000 Southwest Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas on Feb. 19 and the $200,000 Lexington Stakes on April 13 in Keeneland, and he finished third at the Louisiana Derby on March 24.

"He's done a lot of racing," Mike Gualtieri said. "So it was an easy decision. It'll be good for him to get a good rest."

Desormeaux elected to run him in Keeneland because he wasn't sure if the horse would have enough points to qualify for the Derby, but the race was a little closer to the Derby than he would have liked. My Boy Jack came from second-to-last place to win by a head over Telekinesis and lock in a Derby spot.

My Boy Jack, ridden by Keith's brother, Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, came on strong at the end of the race Saturday, but finished seven lengths behind Bob Baffert-trained winner Justify.